The
Pain Of Caring Too Much
About The Earth's Death
By Dr. Glen Barry
13 October, 2007
Earth Meanders
The Earth is dying and it makes
me feel sad. Not just a bit tense or melancholy; but deeply and profoundly
anguished, depressed, and angry. Humanity had so much potential that
has been wasted. Our self consciousness, opposable thumbs, upright walking
and ability for limited rationality has lead to great triumphs in philosophy,
art, sport and leisure. But alas other aspects of our animalistic nature;
libido, insatiable appetite, and desire to dominate, have won out.
This week a leading scientist
reported what many of us already knew and intuited: that climate change
has already surpassed critical thresholds that ensure it will be dangerous
and deadly. Increasingly humanity is called upon to come to terms with
the fact that our habitat and societies are almost certainly going to
fail. I believe that seeing clearly the Earth’s looming demise
accounts for much of my and others' emotional pain.
We are witnessing a political,
social, economic and ecological failure of unprecedented magnitude as
the Earth is poised upon global ecological collapse. It is unsettling
to know that your species is not going to make it. I believe strongly
that we must continue our efforts to halt ecological collapse, by urgently
pursuing policies such as ending the use of coal and ancient forest
logging. And we must prepare our families and communities to pursue
self-reliance, as we return to the land for a final stand.
Yet, how does one continue
living and working with the certain knowledge that a time of extreme
suffering, death, and the possible end of being is at hand?
I am suffering. I am told
this means I am alive. But this is gut-wrenchingly intense. Anguish
that makes you question where you are going, where you are and where
you have been; feeling as if your brain is exploding, your skin drying
up and falling off. Unable to think clearly or maintain relationships
as you continually ponder creation is nearing an end, it could be avoided,
and few care.
To be a bright green political
ecologist is to feel emotional pain from cut land, trashed oceans, toxic
waters and a disintegrating atmosphere. Thinking about ecological crises
full-time for 20 years has made my psyche tawdry and torn. Sure I have
a useful insight or campaign success now and again, but does it really
matter? These achievements have been made at such expense to my personal
well-being that I am beginning to wonder whether it has been, and is,
worth it.
And then I remember what
is at stake. Climate change is not about on average being 2C warmer.
It is about whole countries and regions not having food and water, about
an end to ecosystems and agriculture, about enormous and continuous
floods and droughts, and so much more. Climate change is about death,
destruction and mayhem for billions, maybe for all.
One can reasonably disagree
upon tax rates and numerous other contemporary issues. But how can one
willfully not engage with the remarkably well documented issue of looming
planetary death? There are not two sides to the climate change "debate".
One is in denial, the other experiencing truthful, immobilizing pain.
Maybe the movement would
be better off without my apocalyptic truth-telling. Perhaps if I stopped;
my wrenching, exhausting nightmares would end. Does doom and gloom --
even if 100% truthful -- stymie or inspire adequate responses? How does
one know the Earth and humanity are close to self-immolation and still
make small talk and maintain personal relations with those that are
willingly ignorant on the topic?
Yes, I am wound up tight
and right at the breaking point. And my ego is bruised after being so
naïve as to think that a well informed, intentioned and motivated
person could make any real difference in the situation. I am nearing
exhaustion after giving all I have in 100+ hour work weeks to help save
the Earth; prepare my house, land and family for an imminent ecological
and social collapse; while having to deal with ridicule and abandonment
for seeing so clearly what the future holds. Why do it? Why not just
live for the moment and damn the Earth and humanity's future?
It is because the strongest
biological instinct is a species' sense of self-protection and desire
for our children to carry on after us. Humans are animals. Those trained
to be in touch with the very earliest hominid impulses must protect
all the life with who we share the Earth, because we understand their
existence provides habitat that makes our existence possible, and because
they have an inherent right to be as well. Instead of saber tooth tigers,
we need to protect ourselves from an economy run-amok, collapsing ecosystems
and the mayhem this will release.
Any thinking, caring person
must now be in great pain as they are born into and live within the
epic end of human and Earthly history. It is a burden to be an aware,
thinking person -- noticing the change in seasonality, declining birds
and wildlife, and knowing there is no reason to rejoice that temperatures
in Wisconsin were recently 30 degrees above normal. And it is excruciatingly
difficult to take action upon this truthful knowledge.
How few are able to overcome
their conditioning as children to identify, witness to, and act upon
the truths that economic growth, human populations and their combined
consumption are a cancer upon the Earth; that Gaia, that gives us life
and is thus godlike, is dying; and that all of us -- rich and poor,
black and white, educated and ignorant are all careening towards a painful,
long drawn out death for ourselves, families, communities, sister species
and shared Earth.
Maybe it all comes down to
a fear of death. Consciously I do not give it much thought, but who
does not worry about their mortality? I have had readers express that
ecological collapse, akin to all life dying at once, is more desirable
than making necessary personal and societal changes necessary to save
creation. Many have allowed religion and capitalist dogma to overwrite
their biological instinct to live in a manner that perpetuates their
species.
We had our chance to reform
industrial technological society over the past 30 years, and now it
is irredeemable. There is still hope that industrial society will collapse,
and the necessity of right sizing human endeavors realized, prior to
the biosphere becoming non-functional and unable to recover, and human
death numbering in billions. There is still hope that groups of enlightened
Earth lovers will ride out the collapse and reconstitute humanity living
within nature. But there is no longer hope that it will be achieved
easily, painlessly and without profound conflict and turmoil.
The path to global ecological
sustainability exists: fewer babies, less consumption, ending practices
like the use of coal and ancient forest logging. To see it clearly,
yet know that ignorance and denial hide it to most, is utterly devastating.
Yet I refuse to give up. The stakes are too important. It is in my genes
and encoded instinct to fight to protect my species, habitat and planet;
even if it is tough and causes me to feel emotional pain. Bold ideas
that would solve the climate and ecological crises are out there, but
people are unwilling to change. They must be compelled to do so.
And this is the core of my
sadness -- this beautiful magnificent Earth and all its bright and brilliant
creatures including human good works are going to needlessly end because
of greed, vanity and intransigence. I may not be a particularly good
person -- like most, with many flaws -- but I feel fully and strongly;
yearn for truth, knowledge, and justice; and constantly try to better
myself and my world.
I think you should allow
yourself to feel the Earth's pain strongly as well, and use it as motivation
for personal and planetary healing. Yet make sure that after you feel
the pain, you move on, for your and Gaia's benefit. Maybe writing this
essay will help me do so too.
Dr. Barry is
founder and President of Ecological Internet; provider of the largest,
most used environmental portals on the Internet including the Climate
Ark at http://www.climateark.org/
and http://www.EcoEarth.Info/
. Earth Meanders is a series of ecological essays that are written entirely
in his personal capacity. This essay may be reprinted granted it is
properly credited to Dr. Barry and with a link to Earth Meanders.
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